
Providence plays Butler in Big East Tournament
Butler Bulldogs (13-18, 6-14 Big East) vs. Providence Friars (12-19, 6-14 Big East)
New York; Wednesday, 4 p.m. EDT
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Bulldogs -1.5; over/under is 147.5
BOTTOM LINE: Providence and Butler play in the Big East Tournament.
The Friars have gone 6-14 against Big East opponents, with a 6-5 record in non-conference play. Providence is 8-17 against opponents with a winning record.
The Bulldogs are 6-14 against Big East teams. Butler has a 7-17 record against teams over .500.
Providence averages 71.4 points per game, 2.4 fewer points than the 73.8 Butler gives up. Butler has shot at a 45.8% clip from the field this season, 2.7 percentage points greater than the 43.1% shooting opponents of Providence have averaged.
The teams meet for the third time this season. Butler won 82-81 in the last matchup on Feb. 8. Jahmyl Telfort led Butler with 24 points, and Bensley Joseph led Providence with 26 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Joseph is shooting 42.0% and averaging 12.9 points for the Friars. Jayden Pierre is averaging 11.6 points over the last 10 games.
Telfort is scoring 16.2 points per game and averaging 4.8 rebounds for the Bulldogs. Pierre Brooks is averaging 15.9 points and 4.2 rebounds over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Friars: 1-9, averaging 70.5 points, 29.6 rebounds, 14.8 assists, 5.1 steals and 2.8 blocks per game while shooting 44.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 78.9 points per game.
Bulldogs: 4-6, averaging 77.2 points, 32.3 rebounds, 14.4 assists, 4.6 steals and 2.5 blocks per game while shooting 47.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 77.6 points.
___

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Dominion Post
6 hours ago
- Dominion Post
COLUMN: Manipulating the RPI is the next step for WVU baseball coach Steve Sabins
MORGANTOWN — My first venture into studying the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) came in 2007, after a WVU men's basketball team that had gone 22-9 through the end of the Big East tournament with wins against UConn and UCLA had been left out of the NCAA tournament. And you thought the Mountaineers were snubbed last season. Anyway, in the years that have followed, two things truly stand out about the RPI: ** There really isn't a better tool to gauge a team's strength of schedule. ** It can also be manipulated like silly putty. WVU baseball coach Steve Sabins has got to find a way to become a master manipulator. It's not exactly an easy thing to do as a college baseball coach in the part of the country where the state of West Virginia resides. Still, if the WVU program is headed where it seems to be headed — a perennial Top 25 program and super-regional contender — Sabins' ability to schedule games is going to become just as critical as any recruit he signs out of high school or the transfer portal. Because talent wins games, true, but it's that strength of schedule that determines a team's ultimate fate between always being a regional host or always heading out on the road for the NCAA tournament. First, let's get into some basic numbers. WVU's nonconference RPI strength of schedule this season was 176th in the nation. That's out of 307 Division I teams, which doesn't exactly look great on the surface. OK, but here's where a little more research comes in. LSU, which just won the national title, had a nonconference strength of schedule of 124. Texas — the No. 2 overall seed heading into the NCAA tourney — was at 152. Tennessee, the 2024 national champ, was at 179. WVU took a beating from the so-called experts of college baseball, because the theme was the Mountaineers didn't play anybody in the nonconference. You didn't hear that about LSU, though. It wasn't a story told about Texas or Tennessee. Why? Because once SEC play began, the overall strength of schedules for those schools shot up like a rocket. All three schools finished with an overall strength of schedule no higher than 22nd in the nation. WVU finished with the 78th toughest overall schedule, which included the Clemson Regional games and the super regional against LSU. 'I think that's why I have a difficult time discussing the RPI and some of those factors,' Sabins said. 'There is really only so much you can do and it's an uneven system.' Meanwhile, the Big 12 season isn't exactly a stroll in the park, but WVU and Arizona were the only Big 12 schools to finish the season ranked in the Top 25. The SEC had seven of the top 15 and 11 of the top 30, so of course SEC coaches know they have the conference season to fall back on. They essentially don't have to schedule anyone other than cupcakes in the nonconference and then hope for the best once conference play begins. No one else — not even ACC coaches — have that luxury. So, is it an 'uneven' system, as Sabins suggested? You bet your baseballs it is. This is where Sabins' ability to manipulate the system is crucial. The problem: 'It comes down to you only having four weeks of nonconference games to start the season,' Sabins said. 'It's not like it's 10 weeks. And then, oh by the way, it's still snowing in West Virginia for three of those weeks, so you have to travel south. You can't play midweek games in West Virginia then, either, so you end up asking for a four-game series.' That is the unfortunate geography mismatch that exists in college baseball, where every school north of Nashville, Tenn. is at a disadvantage in an outdoor sport that begins play on Valentine's Day. 'You don't want to fill your schedule with cupcakes,' Sabins continued. 'But the truth of it is, everybody is playing then. It's not like there are a bunch of good teams searching for games. You kind of get stuck with playing who is willing to play.' Here is where the RPI can be easily manipulated, and we offer up Hawaii's nonconference schedule as the perfect example. Hawaii played the second-toughest nonconference schedule in the country this season, so you'd believe that schedule was filled with multiple Top 25 teams and maybe even a couple of series against teams from the American League East, right? Far from it. Hawaii played just one four-game series against a Top 25-ranked team (No. 4 Oregon State), while the rest of its nonconference schedule was Marshall, Wichita State, a mid-major darling in Northeastern and then one game against USC. Now, that doesn't exactly look like a gauntlet, but you don't need a gauntlet to manipulate the RPI. It's really not so much about which schools you can get to agree to play you more than understanding which schools to avoid playing. WVU played 13 nonconference games last season against schools ranked 201st or higher in the RPI. Hawaii played none, that's the difference. So, how can Sabins approach future scheduling? He believes playing true road games is a boost to an RPI rating, which is true to a point. To that end, WVU was a stellar 24-7 in true road games this season. But, if it becomes a question of playing a four-game road series against a team ranked 214th in the RPI or playing a neutral-site game against a team in the top 75, the neutral-site game is the way to go. This is where early-season college baseball tournaments come into play. To my surprise, there are literally two dozen of them to choose from. One of them is actually played in Surprise (Ariz.), the site of the 2026 Big 12 tournament. You don't hear much about them, because they are played at the height of the college basketball seasons and only a week, or so after the Super Bowl. But each one can offer three or four solid RPI matchups against other Power Conference schools who otherwise would never even consider playing the Mountaineers. WVU traditionally hasn't played in them and hasn't done so since J.J. Wetherholt was a freshman. 'Getting in some of those tournaments is something I think we have to look at for the future,' Sabins said. It would go a long way toward eliminating the theme of WVU not playing anyone. It could also be the next evolutionary step for Sabins' coaching career, because he's already proven to be ideal otherwise. Recruiting, developing players, winning — Sabins is right there. Learning to manipulate the RPI has got to be next on his list.


Indianapolis Star
11 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
2 former Butler basketball players sign contracts with NBA teams
Former Butler basketball players Jahmyl Telfort and Patrick McCaffery signed undrafted free agent deals with NBA teams. They didn't hear their names called during the 2025 NBA Draft, but former Butler basketball players Jahmyl Telfort and Patrick McCaffery will both have chances to catch on with NBA teams. Telfort signed a contract with the Los Angeles Clippers, Life Sports Agency announced. Butler announced that McCaffery signed with the Sacramento Kings. Telfort led Butler in scoring at 16 points per game last season to go along with 4.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. McCaffery emerged as a 3-point marksman during his lone season with the Bulldogs. Patrick, the son of longtime Iowa coach and current Penn coach Fran McCaffery, led Butler with 77 made 3-pointers. He averaged 11.2 points per game and shot 41.6% from 3. Telfort has an NBA frame at 6 foot 7, 225 pounds. He's not the most explosive athlete, but he's a savvy player with the strength to get to his spots on the court. McCaffery began his career as a slasher looking to get downhill. At 6-9, his transition to a perimeter shooter should serve him well at the next level. The Clippers begin Summer League play July 11 in Las Vegas. The Kings will be playing in the California Classic Summer League starting July in Sacramento. The Kings will be hosting the San Antonio Spurs, Charlotte Hornets, and Chinese National Team.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Yahoo
Former Xavier Musketeers standout Zach Freemantle agrees to deal with Orlando Magic
Zach Freemantle was not one of the five Big East players selected in this week's NBA Draft, which wrapped up from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Thursday, June 26. However, it didn't take long for the former Xavier Musketeers forward to find an NBA suitor. Advertisement Freemantle has agreed to a deal with the Orlando Magic, the school announced Friday afternoon. Freemantle will suit up for the Magic in the NBA Summer League, which begins next month. More: Xavier will host Missouri State as part of 2025-26 non-conference basketball schedule In April, Freemantle was named to the all-tournament team at the 71st annual Portsmouth Invitational Tournament (PIT) in Virginia. The Teaneck, New Jersey native was also selected to play in the NABC-Reese's Division I College All-Star Game in San Antonio as part of Final Four weekend. Xavier forward Zach Freemantle (32) was a second-team All-Big East selection in 2025. Over a six-season collegiate career with the Musketeers, Freemantle battled a slew of injuries but still etched his name in Xavier history. Advertisement During Xavier's first-round Big East Tournament loss to Marquette at Madison Square Garden in March, Freemantle became the fourth Xavier player to rank top 10 all-time in scoring and rebounding, joining David West, Romain Sato and Tyrone Hill. More: Who is Vaughn Karvala? Xavier hosting 4-star, Class of 2026 forward on Wednesday Freemantle ranks 10th in Xavier history in career points (1,749) and ninth in career rebounds (888). In 136 total games, Freemantle made 107 starts and averaged 12.9 points and 6.5 rebounds per night. After missing all of the 2023-24 season due to a foot injury, Freemantle returned for one more season and helped lead Xavier to the NCAA Tournament. Advertisement More: 'A lot of hugs.' For Xavier's Zach Freemantle, NCAA Tournament was the missing piece Freemantle averaged 16.8 points and 6.8 rebounds and scored in double figures in Xavier's first 30 games before a season-ending loss to Illinois in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. Freemantle was a second-team All-Big East selection for the second time in his career (2021). This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Former Xavier standout Zach Freemantle signs with NBA's Orlando Magic